I tell people that I grew up in a bubble of love. And I did.
We were (and still are) a traditional family. Parents who are still together, a brother, a dog, holidays in a caravan in Devon, meals eaten at the table (in front of the tv was a special treat), lots of fresh air and the usual family squabbles that all quickly blew over.
By 26 I had been married and divorced, at 38 I came out of a very long term relationship that was never going anywhere and just after my 40th birthday I married a man who simply put turned my life around. From now on he shall be known as “The Kiwi”.
His first proposal came when I was still in the aforementioned doomed relationship. The Kiwi and I were friends but that was all, we hadn’t even swapped phone numbers. One evening in a crowded bar he called me over and said “When are you going to wake up and realise you are in a tired and worn out relationship and that I love you and want to marry you”.
Furious as I was that he had dared to point out the obvious (the tired and worn out bit not the marrying bit), I did go home and think about it. Not long afterwards I plucked up the courage to remove myself from my situation and shortly after that I found I couldn't resist his charms any longer. After many proposals (and I’m sure The Kiwi was relieved that I never took them seriously) he finally had a chat with my dad at a Rugby match. That evening in A&E the proper proposal was made. There was nothing romantic about it but there you have it, I said yes that time for fear that he would never ask me again! The whole A&E saga is too long to bore you with now.
A year later we moved into a lovely home with a spacious garden just waiting to be filled with paws. Buffy our Hairy Daughter came first and I just didn’t think I had enough love to spread around two dogs so they were the only paws the garden got to see. Sometime later we added Laura and Gilly to our family. They were turkeys who are sadly no longer with us. After that it was Penny, Hetty, Doris, Mary, Helen and Joan. Then three months ago Polly arrived to complete our mish mash of a brood and our garden now is a mix of paws, claws, hooves and a good variety of poos!
Thanks to The Kiwi I am finally on the right page of the right book in the right library. I don’t think I was even in the library till I met him!
